Freedom For Egyptians reminded me why the cartoons looked so familiar to me: they were actually printed in the Egyptian Newspaper Al Fagr back in October 2005. I repeat, October 2005, during Ramadan, for all the egyptian muslim population to see, and not a single squeak of outrage was present. Al Fagr isn’t a small newspaper either: it has respectable circulation in Egypt, since it’s helmed by known Journalist Adel Hamoudah

Over on Rantings of a Sandmonkey he even has copies of the Newspaper in question. During the Holy Month of Ramadan these cartoons ran and no one was rioting….curiouser and curiouser. It seems to imply the fake cartoons may play a greater roll in the controversy as may the fact it benifits Syrian and Iranian foriegn policy objectives.

Rantings author even has a theory on how this serves larger political intrests in the region beyond just the bad boys of Iran and Syria

The Saudi royal Family used it to distract its people from the outrage over the Hajj stampede. The Jordanian government used it to distract its people from their new minimum wage law demanded by their labor unions. The Syrian Government used it to create secterian division in Lebanon and change the focus on the Harriri murder. And, finally, the Egyptian government is using it to distract us while it passes through the new Judiciary reforms and Social Security Bill- which will cut over $300 million dollars in benefits to some of Egypt’s poorest families.

and the COunter Terrorism Blog focuses on a less state centered political angle

At first glance, there is no link between the spontaneous but violent demonstrations on the one hand and the complex calculations of the web of regimes and organizations. I argue otherwise. M Abu Laban heralded it loudly: the delegation went to seek support from the Arab Muslim East after all attempts to resolve it failed. The first part of the assertion is correct: Arab League diplomats in Copenhagen were not satisfied by the Danish Government response and we know why. But the second part of the delegation’s journey into the region is to be addressed: If the Arab League was rebuffed by liberal Denmark who they ask “support” from in Egypt, Syria, Gaza,and the rest of the region? In short, religious authorities and militant forces: And why would they seek beyond the diplomatic circles as a Danish citizen? Because a decision to ignite an intifada was already made by the architects of the overseas journey: One doesn’t remit the dossier to Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah, the Ikhwan of Egypt, Hamas and the other Salafi in the region to request some prayers: The casus belli was already on. It was beyond the Danish cartoons. It was about a broader issue: Something a representative of an American Islamist group called on CNN “a strategic change in world relationship after 9/11.” Hence, the procedure, not the substance of the protest, had to be thought, devised and prepared. Hence the time elapsed between September and January.

Yet I am still going to get more traffic from the cartoons themselves….that is truely problematic. I find tons of good real discussions on this subject but it seems no one wants to listen